Are You Receiving Me. (Mark 4: 21-33)
I am aware I sometimes I can stand in front of someone, and they can speak to me, and I totally miss the significance of what they are trying to tell me. But that I believe is also common when thinking about things of the Spirit. Sometimes we need to hear something spiritual, sometimes we need to recognise when God is trying to speak to us.
Jesus put it simply for us in yesterday’s episode when he said, “let he who has ears to hear, let them hear”[i]. It is of course important in life that we listen, but it is especially important that we listen to what God himself might be saying to us. I believe the passage that were going to look at today really illustrates this.
He said to them, ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.’ ‘Consider carefully what you hear.,
(Mark 4: 21-24a)
Just a basic reading of this passage makes it obvious that Jesus is saying that when I teach in parables, you need to make understand what I mean in what I say. He says this explicitly when he tells us to, “Consider carefully what you hear”. But backing up for a moment the first thing he says, is that the message itself must not be concealed and must in fact be heard.
In yesterday’s episode we discovered yesterday Jesus has just told his disciples that part of the reason he speaks in parables is not only that he might reveal things, but that he also might conceal truths from those who do not have the correct attitude towards God. By teaching in parables Jesus forces us engage with his word on a deeper level thereby not revealing the truth to those who do not have a teachable spirit or an incorrect posture of heart. But he follows on by saying no one should mistakenly think this means the message should not be out there in the first place. This message should not be hidden from anyone. Clearly, he is saying, don’t for a second mistake this as meaning that my words should be confined to a select group. Clarifying this by saying, “don’t put the truth under a bowl or push it under your bed, you are to let the truth be put out there, so like a light it can potentially shine into the hearts of anyone who is willing to receive it. Put it out there and let it shine so people can choose to respond to it. That’s why he says, “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open”. The mystery of the kingdom of God is to be made known. Using the metaphor of a light this message is to shine in order that everyone potentially can experience illumination. Adding; “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear”. You’ve got ears, then listen.
Make sure you listen and hear, and don’t miss what I am going to reveal to you, because they are important things about the kingdom of God.
I believe that what he is saying is there are certain aspects, a certain truth, about that kingdom that has not yet been fully revealed or understood yet. Jesus is simply saying I am giving you some insight as to what you need to know and how you must spiritually prepare for the coming kingdom of God. I want this truth to put out there like a light, and let it shine so that all might be able to see it. Don’t hide it in a bushel or put it under your bed, let it shine.
Why do you think Jesus choose to illustrate his point using a bushel or a bed? Why these particular words as illustrations of how people might hide the truth? Some New Testament scholars teach that this was because a bushel was the most common measurement used in trading, almost like a modern currency exchange rate. Perhaps what is being suggested here is that some will sacrifice the declaration of the full gospel for the sake of financial gain. That some might sacrifice the message be cost ,maybe even a financial cost in that they need to have different priorities in their lives. That’s interesting to me in the light of some modern television evangelists, I’ll leave that for you to decide, but interesting isn’t it.
The illustration of the bed is perhaps more straight forward. What do you do in bed, right, you sleep in it. Perhaps the warning is you can spend too much time spiritually asleep that you miss hearing the message of the kingdom of God. Perhaps pointing out that it is underneath you all of the time. This message is to be heard, don’t hide it, and don’t miss it because you are too busy chasing financial rewards, it right there under your nose so don’t sleep through it either. Then he continues by turning to the disciples and says this.
‘Consider carefully what you hear,’ ‘With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more.Whoever has, will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.’
(Mark 4: 24-25)
This is a fascinating concept; you should be careful what you listen too. Because whatever you listen to will multiply in your heart. If it good, you will receive the blessing from it, and if it’s bad you will reap the consequences of what you have digested. Contained within this teaching is a clear implication that if it is corrupt, it will bear bad fruit in your life. However, if it’s good you must use it or lose it.
So not only is the message to be heard, but it is also to be lived out and applied.
Let me illustrate; (Megabus and David Beckham illustration).
The principal in internet law then became – use it or lose it) We are too I believe are being warned here, that what we receive we must use it or loose it, not in terms of our salvation, but in relation to knowing and seeing God blessing in our lives and the lives of those around us. If this message goes out it will grow and keep growing day and night. If it ignored it will wither and die, in our lives.
He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
(Mark 4: 26-27)
Another seed parable? Interesting, because the point he is making here is that this message is going to keep growing, just maybe not in our lives. This is why he says it is like a man scattering seed on the ground, some of the seed will germinate and carry on growing. Yes, we have heard that already, but the new insight is that he says here that day or night whether or not the one who scattered the seed is asleep or awake, the seed (the message) will carry on growing and still come to harvest and produce fruit. As a matter of fact, verse 28 says that the seed can produce a crop all by itself.
All by itself the soil produces corn – first the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. As soon as the corn is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’
(Mark 4: 28-29)
This is all really very straightforward; Jesus is telling it’s not for us to worry about whether or not the seed will grow. Don’t worry about that, he says, that is what is going to happen, our purpose is merely to scatter the seed. Just put the message of the Word of God out there.
This also reminds me that this is why sometimes even when the one who scatters the seed is not perfect, the word of God can still continue to go on and produce good fruit. Jesus then makes another point about this growth and what will follow on. In order to do that he uses another seed parable.
Again, he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’
(Mark 4: 30-32)
In this parable the point being made is that the mustard seed was known then as the smallest of all seeds. Yet still it is going to grow until it produces a huge tree, so big that birds can come and make their nests in it. So, he is saying, fear not, things many start small but there is going to be expediential growth from the smallest beginnings, and it is not going to fail. In spite of how it feels at times.
A German theologian named Herman Helikee was a man who when Hitler came to power started speaking out against the regime, as a result of which he lost his high-profile job at the University he lectured at. Instead, he ended up in as a minister of very small village church in the countryside. He then started a Wednesday night prayer meeting and just three people showed up. Two old ladies from the village and himself. As he prayed, he said he could hear outside the marching of the Hitler youth as they did their Wednesday night drills. 100’s of Boys and girls aged 11-14 who had all sworn the allegiance to the Furer. Almost every young person from the village and the surrounded area were gathering outside his church every Wednesday night, marching and drilling as just the three of them met in prayer inside. And he confesses, he got somewhat discouraged. The he said this, I quote.
“At that moment I thought the Christian faith was dying in our country as Hitler’s war machine grew stronger and stronger. Was it really true that the kingdoms of this world would one day be replaced by the kingdoms of our Lord and his Messiah. Then I thought of the story of the mustard seed. That the smallest of seeds grows to the largest of plants, and it was that which gave me the encouragement to carry on”.
As Henikee would indeed live to see, it was Hitler’s kingdom that failed, and the Lord’s kingdom that would continue to endure. Jesus is saying the kingdom is going to grow, it may start small, but it is going to grow. Mark then he ends this passage by saying this.
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
(Mark 4: 33-34)
Now Mark does not tell us what those parables were, not here anyway.
But in the same passage recorded by Matthew we see Jesus teaches 5 further parables after this statement. The message of this parable is this, the message of salvation is going to grow, with or without you, but you should be part of it, you need to be part of it and if you are willing to be part of it, then the Lord will give you more insight and more blessing. Because if you don’t you will spiritually wither and loose the blessings that God wants to give you. We can see that over the years this message has grown, you might say Jesus started with 12, then he sent out 70, then by Pentecost there were 3000 converted. By the time you get to the end of this book, the book of revelations tells us that there will be, “people from every kindred tongue and tribe on the earth”[ii].
Summary.
It seems to me that the whole point of these words of Jesus is to say to us, we need to listen, and we need to make sure we hear the message of the kingdom. Then we need to tell it to others. Also, it tells us that message is going to grow, and if you become part of that you will receive more from God, more blessing, and insights. But if you don’t you will lose out on what God wants to give you and truths, he wants to reveal to you. Use it or lose it.
To put it simply, he is saying listen…. but be careful what you listen too. Take heed, he says, to the message of the kingdom of God, but be sure to listen and to apply it. In the overall context of this passage, I believe Jesus is saying, the Lord wants us to bear fruit in our lives. Remember the parable of the sower yesterday, please note this passage today follows directly on from that parable, the parable of the sower. What was the point of the parable of the sower, well there are several, but in the end, it is that we might be fruitful. Produce fruit of the kingdom of God, maybe 30-fold, 60-fold or even 100-fold.
But we are also warned that some will produce nothing. God wants us to be fruitful. So be careful what you listen to. Listen to His word. Because he wants you to listen carefully then to go and produce fruit. He wants you to listen carefully because he doesn’t want you to hear it and then do nothing with it. He wants you to hear it, and then he wants you to grow, and grow to spiritual maturity. To grow to spiritual maturity, grow by doing what it says. If you use it, you get more, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
Let those who have ears to her, let them hear.
Hear, and listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
If you hear and do, God will bring the increase. But if you hear and don’t use it, you lose it.
I Have a final illustration I believe illustrates this quite well. It’s my first attempt to create a fable. It creates rather an unpleasant visual picture, but I trust you will forgive me because I think it illustrates this point rather well. Two flocks of sheep were arguing across the fence as to which flock had the best farmer and who looked after then with the finest food and the best grazing. They both said they had the best farmer and begin to think about how best they might be able to prove it. They both came up with a different solution. One flock of sheep decided to regurgitate the food they ate every day in the corner of the field, to show the world what a great farmer they had and what superb grazing he had been blessed them with. This would show everyone how well fed they had been, and what a lush field they grazed in. So, every morning they went into the corner of the field and regurgitated their food eaten that day and put it in a big pile.
The other group of sheep had a different idea. They just digested the food and used it to produce thick healthy wool, beautiful wool as a gift for the farmer. That’s what the Lord wants us to do. He wants us to hear the word digest is and produce something beautiful and the awful truth is if we don’t live it out, it as if we never even took it in and digested it. And then we won’t get to produce something beautiful for the Lord.